


Babysitting

by oscarwildewannabe



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Alexis is a Good Mom, Changing lives along the way, David is a Good Uncle, Doing her thing, Established Relationship, F/M, Future Fic, Like mother like daughter, M/M, Ruby's just kinda there, So is Patrick, sweet domestic fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 09:24:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18736231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oscarwildewannabe/pseuds/oscarwildewannabe
Summary: David and Patrick are babysitting for Ted and Alexis. David is not so sure that this is a good idea.





	Babysitting

**Author's Note:**

> Hello loves, I'm reuploading my fic, here sorry they were down for a hot sec. I was having a Moment™ and deleted everything out of fear and self pity and crap. Anyway. Here ya go. Love y'all.

“David, I think it’s gonna be okay.” Patrick was wiping down the counter as he said so his face was looking down, but David had known his husband long enough to know when he was trying to hide his teasing smile.

David dropped himself dramatically down at the counter across from Patrick, “you say that now, but you don’t know!” 

Now Patrick was openly smiling at him, “David, she’s a baby. Most likely she’ll just sleep the whole time.” 

David pursed his lips and squinted at his husband, “Mmm, but you don’t know that” he countered. 

Patrick came around the counter to stand in front of David, placing both his hands on either side of his face. 

“David, she’s our niece, it’ll be fine. Ted and Alexis are just gonna be gone for the afternoon. All we have to do is give her a bottle and put her down for a nap. Somehow, I think we’ll manage.” 

David gave a noncommittal sigh, and Patrick fixed him with a look. 

“David what’s wrong? What’s this really about?” 

David sighed again and brought his hands up to stroke against Patrick’s forearms where they had shifted to his shoulders. 

“What if I mess her up?” he said quietly, avoiding Patrick’s eyes, “what if I do something or say something and I mess her up somehow? It’s not like I really know what a responsible adult figure is supposed to look like. My parents usually just left us with maids.” 

When he had finished he glanced a look up to Patrick’s face. He was wearing that soft little button face that Alexis used to tease him about. He pulled David’s face towards his and pressed a soft kiss to his hairline. His anxiety had its claws deep into his heart, but just this simple act of love from Patrick was enough for David to feel the claws loosen their grip just a bit so that he could take a real breath. 

“Listen to me okay?” Patrick said, “It’s all gonna be okay. I know that you love Ruby. Alexis knows that you Ruby. She wouldn’t trust you with her if she didn’t. And part of that love is you being exactly who you are. You’re a good person David, Ruby would be lucky if you rubbed off on her a little.” 

David smiled. Patrick was so wonderful; he always knew just what to say. 

“Well, hopefully not too much. Although if I never have to bail her out of jail in the middle of the night that would probably be great for my health.” 

They’re both smiling now and David almost forgets the whole reason he was so worked up in the first place. Almost. A knocking on their apartment door brings him right back to reality. 

Patrick goes to open the door and David takes a few more deep breaths before moving behind him to greet Alexis who has already waltzed into their apartment, Ted not far behind. He was carrying Ruby in the carrier that they had bought for her. From what David could see of her, the baby seemed to be asleep. 

“Hey guys,” Ted says, “thanks again so much for doing this we really appreciate it.” 

“No problem man, anytime” Patrick responds to Ted. 

David however is watching Alexis walk around the apartment with her critical judgey face that he hates so much. 

“Uh David,” she says, “Did you not read my text? I said no open sockets around the baby!” 

David groaned- he had actually read her texts, several times.

“MKay, Ruby’s only three months old, there’s no way she was gonna stick her figure in an open socket.” Although even as he said it, he began to have doubts. He shot Patrick a look over his shoulder as if to say right?!

“Babe, it’s fine” Ted said as he moved over to Alexis, “She’s not going to be playing in any electrical outlets. She can barely lift her head right now.” 

David knew he was right, but it did still feel good to hear Ted confirm it. 

Alexis gave the room another once over from her spot by the couch, before nervously brushing a strand of hair out her eyes. 

“You’re right babe, you’re right.” She muttered. She walked over to Patrick, to hand him the diaper bag that was hanging off of her shoulder. 

“There’s diapers and two bottles and a change of clothes and set of pjs in there.” She said handing the bag to Patrick. 

“Babe, I told you you didn’t have to pack all of that. We’re gonna be gone for like 3 hours. They’ll be okay.” Ted said as he set the Ruby’s carrier on the couch. 

Alexis nodded, but continued looking at Patrick seriously as she said, “all you have to do it give her her bottle and then put her to sleep back in her carrier. She’s got a pink blanket that she can’t sleep without which should be in there too.” 

Patrick nodded to her. “Got it, bottle, nap with pink blanket.” 

“You have our numbers, and our parents numbers, and Jocelyn said you could call her too if you needed help and- “ 

“Alexis,” Ted said, interrupting her “it’s gonna be okay”. 

David had never really seen Alexis like this before, it hadn’t really occurred to him that she would be this nervous too. But then he remembered that this was her time being away from Ruby in, well, ever. 

Suddenly Alexis turned on him, “You call me if anything happens okay? Anything”. David almost made a joke about his track with responsibility versus hers. But then he saw how deadly serious her face had become and he just nodded. 

“It’s gonna be okay” he found himself saying, “we got her.” David tried to giver a reassuring smile. 

Alexis nodded once and took a step towards the baby carrier, where she carefully unbuckled the straps and lifted her daughter out. 

“Okay,” she said softly, “Mommy and Daddy are gonna be right back, but you’re gonna be okay with Uncle David and Uncle Patrick alright? Alright?” 

David knew she was talking to Ruby, but that last alright was definitely directed at him, so he did his best to nod reassuringly. 

Alexis held her daughter close to her chest as she and Ted walked back towards the door. Ted leaned down to kiss the baby’s head before walking over to the door. Alexis had stopped right in front of David. 

“Okay you can take her,” she said finally so David held out his arms as he had been instructed to so many times before so that Alexis could place the baby in his arms. But she shook her head, and held her daughter closer to her chest.

“No David you’re going to have to physically take her from me. I- I can’t..” 

David gave a small smile, he’d never thought he’d see this day, and nodded. Reaching carefully he plucked the infant out of Alexis arms and placed her carefully within her arms. 

“Okay, okay, okay.” Alexis was repeating to herself, “Patrick I’m gonna need you to make me leave now.” 

Patrick smiled as he gently guided the two parents to the door, opened it for them and ushered them both out. 

“We’re gonna take good care of her I promise.” He said as Alexis craned her neck to get one last look at her baby, “You’ll have her back in no time.” 

“Thank you.” Ted said again as. Patrick shut the door behind them. 

David was standing stock still in the middle of their living room, Alexis’ obvious fear had not done anything to help alleviate his own. He chanced a look down at the baby that was in his arms. Her large eyes were looking up him, and her little mouth was curved into a little ‘o’ as if asking him “well what now?”

As carefully as possible, David maneuvered himself to the couch, and eased himself into a sitting position. He looked up at Patrick for help as to what to do, but what he saw (while very adorable) was not at all helpful. 

Patrick had set the diaper bag down on the coffee table was gazing at David lovely with his hands shoved into his pockets. 

David’s glare must have been palpable because Patrick smirked at him and said, “You’re doing great, but you can loosen your grip a little now. You’re not gonna drop her.” 

David bit back a snarky comment as realized he was in fact holding onto his niece very tightly. Carefully he lowered the baby down to his lap like he had seen Ted do before and placed let between his legs, with his hands holding her on either side. 

“okay so now what?” he asked Patrick breathlessly. He was feeling slightly frazzled at the prescience of the baby on his lap, and even more so by the fact that both his hands were holding her in place and therefore he was unable to move them around in any way that might release some of the tension that he was feeling. 

“Her bottle’s in the outside pocket of the bag there I checked” Patrick said as he reached down and plucked it out before moving to sit next to David on the couch. He set the bottle down next to him and carefully pulled Ruby off of David’s lap to readjust her in his own arms. 

“I can feed her, so you don’t have to worry too much about it.” He said, “I know Alexis said she could sleep in her carrier but I thought it might be more comfortable for her if we put some like blankets and pillows down on the bed for her, so if you want to do that?” 

David nodded, that he could do. He walked over to the bed and began pulling all of the pillows and blankets back from their neatly arranged display. In the center of the bed he arranged all of the pillows in a roughly square shape that they could place Ruby in the center of. He made sure that all of the pillows had their softest sides facing inwards, and laid his favorite blanket down in the center so that Ruby wouldn’t have to sleep on the rougher part of the comforter. 

Pleased with his work, he walked back towards the couch where Patrick had Ruby propped up in his arms and was feeding her his bottle. Something deep in David’s stomach twisted and he fought back a smile at the sight of his husband with a baby in his arms. His stomach twisted again and David frowned. Kids were not something that he and Patrick had talked much about until Alexis had announced she was pregnant. David didn’t like kids; they were messy and loud and not very respectful of his sleep schedule. But Patrick- Patrick was really good with kids, liked them even. When they had first talked about it Patrick had reassured him that kids or no kids, he loved David and that he was all he would ever need. 

And at the time, that had been enough for David. But now? Now he wasn’t so sure. He liked Ruby; he really did. She was a sweet baby, she didn’t fuss or cry too often and she had Ted’s big smile and Alexis’ big aqua colored eyes, and every time David looked at her he couldn’t help the soft little smile that tugged at his lips. He let himself imagine what his and Patrick’s kid might look like. He knew they had slightly more limited options but still- he felt his stomach twist again at the idea of a little baby with a small button face like Patrick’s and soft dark hair like his. 

David sucked in a breath. He could really imagine it. A little kid that sat behind the counter at the store who smiled at all their customers. Patrick teaching them how to hit a baseball with the same patience that he had with David. Patrick singing to their baby to get them to sleep. When he had told Patrick he didn’t want kids before it had been because he was scared. Scared that he would mess up a kid. Scared that Patrick would come to his senses and leave him for good. 

But he hadn’t messed up Ruby. And he had four gold rings on his left hand that indicated that Patrick had no intentions of leaving him...

“I changed my mind” he said suddenly the words out of his mouth before he could stop them. 

Patrick turned to him. Ruby’s empty bottle discarded on the table and Ruby herself peeking over Patrick’s shoulder as he softly patted her on the back. 

“I’m sorry?” He asked, confusion written on his face. 

David brought his hands up to his face to rest under his chin, “I changed my mind about kids” 

Patrick’s eyebrows shot up in surprise but he quickly schooled his face into a practiced neutral face. 

“Oh?” 

David nodded as his hands shifted to hide behind his neck as he tilted his head up to the ceiling. 

“Yeah.” He whispered, “I don’t know what it was, but I think, I think if, if you wanted to, then maybe we could…” 

He trailed off; he didn’t know how to finish this. Oh God. He shut his eyes and brought his hands in front of them so that he couldn’t see anything. Maybe if he thought about it hard enough the ground would just swallow him up right then and there. But then there were soft, warm hands pulling his away from his eyes. Patrick was standing in front of him. Smiling. 

“Hey, it’s okay. I told you that I didn’t need to have kids to be happy.” He was saying quietly, “but if you think that that’s something you might want to do then I’m all in.” 

David bit his lips and forced back a smile, nodding his head. “I think I do.” He said. 

Patrick smiled, before looking down at the ground for a minute and then bringing his eyes back up to meet David’s, “Can I ask what changed your mind?” 

David smiled. He reached out a finger to stroke down Ruby’s back. She was still lying against Patrick’s chest, her little head lolling to the side on his shoulder. 

“I don’t know really. I think…I think I realized that the reason I said no before was because I was so scared. I was scared I wouldn’t be a good dad.” He paused trying to gauge Patrick’s reaction, but he just kept looking on at him waiting for him to finish. 

“But then I watched you with Ruby, and you’re so good with her and…I don’t know. I kept picturing what our kid could be like. But all of the pictures I came up with…none of them were scary. We were happy in them. I know you would be a good dad, and I think…I think I could be too, just so long as you’re here with me and you’re in charge of any and all finances because you know I don’t do well with math.” 

David let out a deep breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. He chanced a glance at Patrick again. He had that soft little button face on, and David opened his mouth to tease him but was interrupted by Patrick pressing his own lips against him. 

It was a soft, sweet kiss. The kind of kiss that said more in its actions than a million words could have said. When they pulled apart they were both smiling. 

“Come on,” Patrick said softly, holding his hand out to David, “Ruby’s starting to fall asleep on my shoulder. And we have a lot to talk about.”

David allowed himself to be led over to their bed where Patrick gently placed the drowsy Ruby in the middle of the blanket and pillow cocoon that David had created. Patrick walked back over to the couch to pull out the pink blanket that Alexis had mentioned and David eased himself down onto the bed next to his niece. 

Carefully David slipped the sparkly white bow that she was wearing off of her head, not wanting it to get crumpled in her sleep. He smoothed down her little golden wisps of hair. Ruby looked up at him through her lidded eyes and for a moment she looked so like Alexis David was taken aback. There had been a point in his life when he thought that whatever children Alexis did end up having would have been unplanned accidents that she handled in much the same way that Moira handled the two of them. But looking down on the little girl curling up in his bed, he had never been so glad to be so wrong. 

Patrick came back and gently placed the blanket over the little girl. He sat down next to David and placed his chin on his shoulder. David had not taken his eyes off the little girl. Her eyes were now fully closed and her head had turned to the side so that her chubby little cheeks had been smooshed up against one of the pillows. David found his fingers tracing over her eyebrows and down her little nose until her breath had evened out and her chest began to rise and fall with the quiet pattern of sleep. 

“She’s pretty stickin’ cute” Patrick whispered in his ear, “But ours will be cuter.” 

Two hours later, Alexis and Ted quietly let themselves into the apartment which Alexis’ extra key. They had knocked a few times but there hadn’t been any answer. When it looked like Alexis was about ready to pull out her own hair, Ted had suggested just letting themselves in. Alexis’ worried and paranoid ramblings about child abductions and worst case scenarios made him roll his eyes, but nevertheless he was slightly relieved to see the sight laid out before them when they entered the apartment. 

Their daughter was lying on David and Patrick’s bed fast asleep. His brother-in-law and his husband were lying next to her, just as fast asleep as her. He couldn’t help but notice that one of David’s hand’s was lying inside of the makeshift crib, and that Ruby had her small hand wrapped protectively around it. 

He turned to Alexis to comment on it when he saw her furiously wiping tears from her eyes. 

“Hey, you alright?” he asked

She nodded, smiling at him, “These are happy tears. Don’t make fun of me I’m an emotional wreck I just had a baby.” She swatted at his chest playfully before reaching into her bag and pulling out her phone. 

She smirked at him before taking several snapshots of the sleeping uncles and their niece on the bed. 

“Just in case he complains about how hard babysitting was for next time.” She said coyly.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi to me on tumblr: oscarwildewannabe


End file.
